New Delhi: In a report that supports opposition parties’ allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party is working like ‘washing machine’ for those facing corruption charges, The Indian Express has found that 25 politicians who were with other parties and facing central agency investigations have crossed over to the BJP since 2014.
Even more interesting is that of these, 23 leaders have got reprieve in their cases. While three of their cases have been closed entirely, 20 others remain stalled or in cold storage. “In just two of the 25 cases — of former Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha and former TDP MP YS Chowdary — there is no evidence of a let-up by the ED even after the two leaders joined the BJP. At least, not yet,” said The Indian Express.
Of the leaders, the newspaper reports, 10 are from the Congress, four each from Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena, three from Trinamool Congress, two from Telugu Desam Party, and one each from Samajwadi Party and YSR Congress Party.
“Six of the politicians on this list moved to the BJP this year alone, weeks before the general elections,” the newspaper’s report stated.
The leaders named in the Express report include Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Ashok Chavan, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari, Pratap Sarnaik, Hasan Mushrif, Bhavana Gawali and more.
Opposition parties have been raising their voice time and again over the last few years against the Narendra Modi government’s “misuse” of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax Department. Just in the last few months, in the run-up to the 2024 elections, two state chief ministers – Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal – have been arrested by the ED. Several other leaders have been raided and called for questioning.
Though the BJP claims to be a “clean” party while all others are corrupt – a claim under serious doubt after the recent electoral bond revelations – it has been openly rewarding leaders who have a corruption-tainted track record with tickets and ‘star campaigner’ status.
The Wire has also reported on a statewise list of such leaders who have switched over in recent months. Since then the CBI has filed a closure report in a corruption case involving Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), and illegal mining scam accused G. Janardhan Reddy has joined the BJP.
An opposition skew
A report by Scroll in 2022 on the ED’s record of going after opposition politicians pointed out the data and urgency with which the Opposition was gone after. “If the timing of ED investigations appears suspect in several cases involving the Opposition, conversely, it is hard not to notice the lack of similar alacrity in cases involving BJP leaders”, it wrote. Government data it cited revealed how cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act had zoomed since 2017.
Another investigation found that 95% of ED cases since the BJP came to power in 2014 were against Opposition leaders.
A report by The Indian Express “showed that between 2014 and September 2022, 121 prominent leaders came under ED radar, 115 of them Opposition leaders; the list has grown since”.
The Wire reported last year that ED had turned into an “Excessive Directorate” by vastly extending its own scope.